The services sector plays an increasingly important role in the global economy and the growth and development of countries.

Services are becoming crucial in a country's development, including in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, such as poverty reduction and access to basic services, including education and health services.

UNCTAD has implemented a comprehensive work programme on services, trade and development with a view to assisting developing countries in developing their services sectors, increasing their participation in services trade and realizing development benefits. This work enjoys extensive complementarity between the three pillars of UNCTAD's operations.

Research and trends in the global economy indicate that developing countries cannot develop without expanding and deepening their services sectors - spheres of economic activity that range from energy, to telecommunications, to such knowledge- and skills-based work as engineering and computer programming.